Photo by Tim Moses
Hymenochirus boettgeri - African dwarf clawed frog
Origin: Rainforest areas of central and western Africa.
Potential size: 3.5 cm (1.5").
When I first saw these cute little frogs in my local petshop I had my doubts. The thought of having other animals than fish in my aquarium had never occured to me. But five minutes later I was convinced and bought some. It turns out they are great pets and two of the coolest inhabitants in my tank. (Seems I have nothing but cool things in it...)
These frogs are not to be confused with African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) which are much bigger. The dwarf frogs can be kept in your fishtank with most peaceful types of fish. But hey! Keep the tank covered. They jump.
They live under water and only occasionally swim up to the surface for a quick breath. One odd thing about them is the like floating completely motionless. They look really dead, but from what I've read it's just a normal behavior called "burbling". Go figure.
When I read bout these little creatures on other sites, I found out that they sing. Yeah right, was my first thought...but recently they have actually started making some sort of strange noises at night. Also I found a very good recording. So please listen and be amazed :=)
WAV file (831KB)...Thanks to David Almanza for letting me use this on the page.
Photo by Tim Moses